University of Texas In Austin Reopens After Bomb-Threat Evacuation

The University of Texas has reopened, after a phoned bomb threat prompted the evacuation of its entire Austin campus this morning.

That's not an insignificant undertaking: The university has 50,000 students and 22,000 employees. A spokeswoman told The Austin American-Statesman that it was the largest evacuation in recent memory and it was issued after a man called to say that he had planted bombs across campus.

The university issued the evacuation order at 10:53 a.m. ET. and lifted the order at 1 p.m. ET, after the buildings had been cleared.

In a statement posted on its website, the university said classes on the main campus had been cancelled for the remainder of the day.

Update at 1:42 p.m. ET. North Dakota State University Lifts Order:

North Dakota State University, which also received a bomb threat, will lift its evacuation order at 2 p.m. ET.

An evacuation of this campus is significant, because the school says a little more than 50,000 students are enrolled.

This is a breaking story. We'll update this post with the latest.

Update at 12:55 p.m. ET. Buildings Reopen:

The university sent this alert:

"Classes on the Main university campus are cancelled for the remainder of Friday, September 14, 2012. University buildings may be re-entered effective noon today. All University activities except for scheduled classes will resume at 5:00 pm this date."

Update at 12:41 p.m. ET. Biggest Evacuation In Recent Memory:

UT spokeswoman Tara Doolittle tells The Austin American-Statesman that she could not recall a larger evacuation. As we said before, the university has 50,000 students and 22,000 employees.

Doolittle added that only one threatening call was received from a single person.

"We're checking the buildings to make sure they are secure, and we hope to allow reentry this afternoon," Doolittle told the Statesman.

Update at 12:25 p.m. ET. Better To Be Safe:

NPR member station KUT is live blogging. They report on their conversation with a couple of people on campus: